Hours after the TikTok deal was signed to transition ownership of its U.S. arm, the platform (and CapCut) started to see some strange disruptions that are still ongoing.
One look at the network's DownDetector page shows you just how widespread this issue was over the weekend.
And while the platform itself is live and viewable by audiences, content creators are reporting issues with video uploads showing with zero views, or just not being allowed to upload at all.
TikTok's USDS joint venture later confirmed that this has been caused by a "power outage at a U.S. data center impacting TikTok."
Following this, the venture posted an update about the ongoing work to "resolve a major infrastructure issue," which acknowledged these issues, and ensured users that their "actual data and engagement are safe."
Here is the latest on what's been happening so far.
No, it wasn't just you
TikTok's US side of the business is now officially under the ownership of Oracle, which is the solution that saves it from the US ban that's been threatened for a long time.
But as you can see (and have probably spotted yourself while trying to use TikTok or CapCut), it's not been a smooth transition.
TikTok's USDS Joint Venture account has recently posted an update saying the issue was a "power outage" at a data center, and that the company is "working with our data center partner to stabilize out service."
Since yesterday we’ve been working to restore our services following a power outage at a U.S. data center impacting TikTok and other apps we operate. We're working with our data center partner to stabilize our service. We're sorry for this disruption and hope to resolve it soon.January 26, 2026
Disruption to feeds, longer loading times
One of our editors, John Velasco, explained that he was seeing disruptions with his feeds on TikTok, which could be stem from the power outage at its U.S. data center. Not only that, but he also recalls that user pages were also taking much longer to load, including the comments section.
This happened after TikTok updated its terms of service
Just days ago, TikTok rolled out its updated terms of service — which greeted users when they opened the app. Of course, users had to agree before they could proceed to use the app.
What's interesting, though, is the amount of changes found within it, including data sourcing, precise location tracking, generate AI rules, and much more. There's also a new 180-day rule about user names. If an account stays active for 180 days, TikTok reserves the right to reset the name, which would make it up for grabs to anyone. There's been a ton of commotion from the community about this, including this Reddit thread.
Users report recent video uploads are getting 0 views
Creators typically gauge the level of success of their videos by looking at how many views they've generated. Many users are reporting that new videos uploaded to the video sharing platform are getting zero or few views. Meanwhile, other TikTok users are reporting that they're seeing views again, but nowhere to the degree they're used to getting before the disruption.
TikTok also facing an addiction lawsuit
TikTok, Meta and YouTube are all heading to the courtroom over allegations that the social media platforms are "fueling a youth mental health crisis" Reuters is reporting.
That lawsuit starts this week and is only the first of several cases that are expected to tackle similar issues against social platforms this year.
CapCut is also down
From what we've seen, the TikTok outage appears to mostly be affecting creators. And while the numbers aren't as large, we are seeing reports that the popular video editing tool CapCut is also experiencing an outage.
This is most likely related to the TikTok outage as users aren't able to edit and upload videos properly.
Unfortunately, CapCut doesn't appear to have a status page or a proper social feed where it shares company information, so it's not clear if the company is aware of the outage or fixing anything on its end.
The most recent video on the company's TikTok page is filled with angry users demanding they fix the app.
Numbers right now
As of 9:30 a.m., TikTok is still showing about 1,500 reports on Down Detector.
It appears to be mostly back up though.
TikTok seems aware its addictive
The Verge is reporting on discovered documents that reveal how companies like TikTok, Meta and Google internally discussed teenage use of their social platforms.
"A 2021 document from TikTok recognized that compulsive use of its platform was “rampant,” but said that meant it needed to provide users “better tools to understand their usage, manage it effectively, and ensure being on TikTok is time well spent.” The company saw it as a good thing that TikTok users were more actively engaged on their app than on other platforms, since “research suggests passive use of social media is more harmful.” TikTok did not immediately provide a comment on the latest document release."
Collected data isn't new
While TikTok lurches forward into a new era of US ownership, people are freaking out about the new privacy policy.
TechCrunch points out that much of the language in the update isn't actually new and existed in previous privacy agreements.
The difference is now the US government partially owns the service and is collecting data for its own purposes rather than China.
Maybe delete it just in case.
How to delete TikTok
If you are interested in deleting TikTok, it is fairly straight forward.
Open the app and click Profile, found on the bottom of the UI.
Tap Menu.
Go to Settings and then privacy.
Tap Account then select deactivatee or delete account.
From there follow the instructions to delete or deactivate your account. Of course, remove the app from any devices.
I've seen Redditors saying you can get around the new TOS by trying to delete it in Airplane mode. Though that may not work for everyone.
No update from TikTok
Three hours ago an alleged account claiming to be part of the US version of TikTok claimed that the company has been working to restore services.
Since then, there have been no updates. The outage has refused to totally go away as reports have hovered around 1,500 reports for multiple hours.
It trudges on.
Are you experiencing issues?
This disruption has been going since Sunday though it's largely settled down today.
We've noticed that it appears to mainly be affecting people trying to create and upload videos. But if you're just watching you should be fine.
Have you noticed any problems? Let me know in the comment section or by emailing me at scott.younker@futurenet.com
Where we currently stand
We've been tracking TikTok's issues for about four hours now.
The issues really kicked off on Sunday, January 25, but have continued well into Monday.
Today, it appears that the issues are mostly centered around people attempting to edit videos via CapCut and posting videos. Or videos are posting but somehow receiving 0 views.
An X account purporting to be the USDS Joint Venture in charge of TikTok posted a tweet today saying that a data center power outage caused the disruption. The post apologized for the outage but has not posted since.
Users and Tom's Guide readers are reporting that there are still problems with the social app.
We have reached out to TikTok USDS via email for more information and will update if they respond.
TikTok response
I reached out to a press email on the USDS site. The spokesperson who responded pointed me back toward the tweet from earlier today.
As a reminder, it says: "Since yesterday we’ve been working to restore our services following a power outage at a U.S. data center impacting TikTok and other apps we operate. We're working with our data center partner to stabilize our service. We're sorry for this disruption and hope to resolve it soon."
I was told by "TikTok USDS Joint Venture" that the data center caused service disruption and is continuing to impact TikTok.
It was confirmed that they are working to restore service, but a timeline was not provided.
What you've had to say
We have a poll up, and 400 Tom's Guide readers responded, with 97% of you saying that yes, you are experiencing issues with TikTok.
We've had a few readers reach out for more concrete timelines, but so far I can't provide that information, and TikTok has not deigned to share it.
Others have reached out, concerned about a lack of transparency from TikTok and concern that the new ownership is suppressing content, especially around the ICE operations in Minnesota, at the direction of the current presidential administration. That was a widely held suspicion and concern before the US assets of TikTok were sold to a consortium that includes Oracle's Larry Ellison, an ardent Trump ally.
At this time, the transition just happened in the last week. Without a significant study of the algorithm and what is being promoted or suppressed, it's hard to say if that accusation holds water, yet.
I will note that Oracle, which owns 15% of the new TikTok US, has hosted US user data since 2022, according to Wired. And three of its data centers are located in Ashburn, VA, smack dab in the middle of the massive winter storm Fern affecting much of the eastern and southeastern portions of the United States. There is also a center in Chicago, just on the outer edge of Fern, but it's not clear if the data center issues stem from Fern.
TikTok uninstalls up 150%
CNBC is reporting that the daily average app uninstalls of TikTok in the United States have shot up 150% in the last week.
Much of the increase is being blamed on skepticism of the new join ownership and the newly updated privacy policy.
So, are you among those who plan on deleting?
Finally, an update from US TikTok
An update on our work to restore and stabilize TikTok. pic.twitter.com/PZzsuFeZmjJanuary 26, 2026
Finally, after multiple hours of silence, US TikTok finally released a statement on the new USDS X account.
If you can't see the tweet or want to avoid X here's what it says:
"We're continuing to resolve a major infrastructure issue triggered by a power outage at one of our U.S. data center partner sites. While the network has been recovered, the outage caused a cascading systems failure that we've been working to resolve together with our data center partner."
There's more and it goe son to say that you might see multiple bugs, slower load times or timed-out requests including when uploading videos.
It also acknowledges the 0 views issue. The note says that data and engagement information are safe but may suffer from server timeouts.
Gavin Newsom gets involved
California Governor Gavin Newsom has entered the TikTok saga by claiming he is launching a review of the platform's content moderation practices.
“Following TikTok’s sale to a Trump-aligned business group, our office has received reports, and independently confirmed instances, of suppressed content critical of President Trump,” read a press statement from Newsom’s office posted to X yesterday.
“Gavin Newsom is launching a review of this conduct and is calling on the California Department of Justice to determine whether it violates California law."
NEW: Following TikTok’s sale to a Trump-aligned business group, our office has received reports — and independently confirmed instances — of suppressed content critical of President Trump. @CAGovernor Gavin Newsom is launching a review of this conduct and is calling on the… https://t.co/D6vQ890gO8January 27, 2026
Broken, or working as intended?
When the transition happened, TikTok's Terms of Service were updated on January 22 — forcing users to accept the updated rules or not use the app.
While on the face of it, a lot of these changes to the TOS seem to be more related to bringing the app into compliance with federal and state laws that require much more explicit clarity, there are some worrying changes that I wrote about.
Namely, the ones that have been rewritten for compliance show just how much data is gathered — including gender identity, religious and racial origin, and immigration status. And also, the app can now collect precise GPS location.
Follow Tom's Guide on TikTok
Now that TikTok is mostly working again, be sure to follow Tom's Guide on TikTok. We're posting all the time with knowledge-filled and entertaining videos that any tech-lover will enjoy.
Staying steady
Reports are still hanging around for TikTok on Downdetector, though it's nothing like it was at the peak of the outage.
An updated from the Tiktok USDS account
We've made significant progress in recovering our U.S. infrastructure with our U.S. data center partner. However, the U.S. user experience may still have some technical issues, including when posting new content. We're committed to bringing TikTok back to its full capacity as…January 27, 2026
On the TikTok USDS Joint Venture X account there has been an update.
"We've made significant progress in recovering our U.S. infrastructure with our U.S. data center partner. However, the U.S. user experience may still have some technical issues, including when posting new content. We're committed to bringing TikTok back to its full capacity as soon as possible. We'll continue to provide updates. Thanks for your patience."
The company said late last night that those missing views and engagement will get it at some point, but there were issues with video uploads yesterday.
Still no ETA on when things are expected to be fully resolved.
Chugging along
This TikTok outage train will not stop. No reports are way down but I'm still seeing reports around the internet that people are having problems with the platform.
"My vid had 30k views and now it has 15k they literally deleted my views 😂 - that’s never happened before," one commentor wrote on Down Detector.
More than 500,000 cumulative reports
Down Detector posted on Facebook that beginning on Sunday, Jan 25, the outage tracker received more than 585,000 cumulative reports regarding TikTok running through Jan. 26.
That number has surely risen as this disruption continues into today.
The main issue reported was app functionality and the For You Page not refreshing.
Moving on from TikTok?
TikTok is going through some monumental changes right now and if you're not feeling it but still want to see Tom's Guide video content, might I recommend the Tom's Guide YouTube channel?
We do post shorts similar to what you'll see on our TikTok feed, but also longer, more in-depth videos like the one you can watch above.
California Governor calls for TikTok investigation
It’s time to investigate. I am launching a review into whether TikTok is violating state law by censoring Trump-critical content. https://t.co/AZ2mWW68xaJanuary 27, 2026
California's governor, Gavin Newsom, tweeted that he is "launching a review into whether TikTok is violating state law by censoring Trump-critical content."
The new TikTok US has claimed that the ongoing issues were caused by a data center outage and that no censorship is taking place.
However, the longer it drags on, the more conspiracy theories have popped up, especially surrounding political content.
Videos that mention ICE or Jeffrey Epstein appear to be "glitching out" or not getting views. TikTok swears it is not blocking the name Epstein or ICE.
Newsom's press office said it "as received reports — and independently confirmed instances — of suppressed content critical of President Trump."
That's all for today
This disruption just won't go away. On Down Detector it's still hovering around 200 to 300 reports. Baseline is usually closer to 0.
Comments from users still say their feeds are glitchy or their videos aren't getting views or engagement.
Maybe one of these days this thing will get back to working.
Oracle: 'Temporary weather-related power outage' resulted in issues
An Oracle spokesperson has reached out to Tom's Guide following the TikTok outage, noting how a "temporary weather-related power outage" caused issues on an Oracle data center.
"Over the weekend, an Oracle data center experienced a temporary weather-related power outage which impacted TikTok," says Michael Egbert, Oracle spokesperson. "The challenges U.S. TikTok users may be experiencing are the result of technical issues that followed the power outage, which Oracle and TikTok are working to quickly resolve.”
